No Problem

     Just because you aren’t reinventing the musical wheel doesn’t automatically justify your dismissal from the band world. Enter No Problem, they are made up from members of Wednesday Night Heroes, The Mandates, and the Throwaways, but don’t sound like any of those aforementioned bands. No Problem has struck for the musical heart of melodic punk hardcore, think early D.O.A. mixed with some Dead Kennedys, Adolescents and Viletones, and have no qualms about doing so. While most bands or musicians mellow with age like a fine wine, No Problem is proud to be a like a fireball shot of whisky that has a bite when swallowed.

Interview by Ed Stuart

Who’s answering the questions?

Graeme MacKinnon (Guitar/Vocals)

Give us a brief history of your musical background, some other bands you have played in and currently do play in?
All four members of No Problem have been quite active in the underground music community.

For myself, aside from duties in No Problem, I play drums in a band with my sister called Strangled and am also working on several other projects still in the development phase. From 1998 to 2008, I played in a streetpunk band called The Wednesday Night Heroes where I was able to tour all over quite heavily. 

Matt Bouchard currently plays in a synth-pop band called Physical Copies and before joining No Problem he did a lengthy stint in an Edmonton punk band called Let’s Dance. Steve Lewis played in a hardcore band called High Jinks and just recently left a riff raging band called Stepmothers. Warren who lives in Calgary used to be in a trash band called The Throwaways and is now blowing people’s bodies apart in his power-pop band the Mandates. So basically for all of us it is rather important to keep active and creative when it comes to music.    

Where is the band from?
No Problem is from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Who is in the band and what instrument do they play?

Graeme MacKinnon (Guitar/Vocals)
Matt Bouchard (Bass)
Steve Lewis (Guitar)
Warren Oostlander (Drums)

How did the band start?
With Wednesday Night Heroes on hiatus and Matt’s band Let’s Dance winding down, he and I started talking with our original drummer Ian about doing a back to basics hardcore punk band in the vein of early LA bands like The Germs, Circle Jerks, The Adolescents and TSOL and mix it with early Canadian bands like the Viletones, Subhumans and Personality Crisis. Once we started jamming it started to come together quite nicely, but once Steve joined and brought more of a hardcore vibe, I felt that’s when things really started getting interesting and it just clicked. 

What bands did you have in mind when starting this band?

Lots of KBD type stuff when we started, but as we progressed many other influences started to creep from Aussie punk to early European punk. Matt has been really into Flying Nun Records and stuff like Sparks or Harry Nilsson, stuff with really big sings, while Steve has always been on a guitar quest for the ultimate thick riff so a lot more hard rock doomy type stuff. For our current drummer lots of audio books like English versions of the Smurfs or Sweet Valley High, but that’s usually something we need to regulate or he’ll get too hot in the sweatpants. 

Basically we all kind of bring our own personal thing to the mix. Like later Kid Rock stuff or Load/Re-Load Metallica…just heavy hitters.

This is a question for Graeme. While Wednesday Night Heroes had a more street punk sound, No Problem is going toward early punk/hardcore. Most musicians tend to go away from punk/hardcore as they get older, but you have embraced it with No Problem. What were some of the reasons why?

No Problem is just a different beast. When we were doing Wednesday Night Heroes we were influenced by a lot of UK punk like No Future/Riot City Records type stuff, bands like The Partisans, GBH, Peter and the Test Tube Babies alongside The Professionals and other classics, so when we started No Problem we just wanted to do something different, gravitating towards early hardcore punk bands who were playing just raw rock n' roll with aggressive and reckless tendencies. And I think by not just worrying about speed or being angry, we could really push ourselves to do something a little different. Strange melodies or personal lyrics that might be more honest to what I’m feeling than just your typical punk affair.  

I read a quote from AuxMagazine, that states “I know No Problem isn’t reinventing the wheel, but if this record makes someone happy or gets someone into other cool punk records, or influences some young pukes to start new and exciting bands, then that’s a job well done.”  That is a pretty honest quote considering that some bands think they are reinventing the wheel when they are just merely playing their music like their influences. Is the mindset of No Problem, “This is who we are and what we do,” either take it or leave it?

The mindset for No Problem has always been let’s make songs and write lyrics interesting to us, let’s just do what comes naturally and hopefully people will respond. We feel like we are from a city or a part of the country that no one cares about so I like to think even though we aren’t “reinventing the wheel,” we are still creating a sound unique in our interpretation, but in a way that is true to whom we are.
I mean there are a lot of cool bands floating around the universe - the Total Controls, the Crazy Spirits, the Omegas, the S.H.I.T.s or the Una Beastia Incontrolables and all of them are great at what they do so why would we want to re-do or copy them when they are already doing something great and original. I find it really easy these days to be so literate and up to date with current bands that sometimes you run the risk of inadvertently copying them. The same types of songs: the same artwork even. And don’t get me wrong I wish I wrote the Total Control song “Flesh War,” but I didn’t so why even try to come close to something like that. It would be a disservice to our own music and to theirs if there was another “Flesh War” called “Skin Fight” or something and we reversed the chord progression.

What is the scene like in Edmonton? 
It’s coming along. Just like any city it comes and goes in waves. Sometimes there’s tons of bands and loads of kids, but at the moment it is kind of in a transitional phase. Lots of cool bands starting so hopefully that will translate into a greater number of punters.

So far, No Problem has had pretty good luck with labels. How did the band hook up with Deranged Records? 
Gord has always been very supportive of Canadian punk and I think after we recorded the first LP in Toronto with a mutual friend Jonah Falco he was interested in hearing the finished product. Luckily he was into it and it really helped us get our music out to the people. Our relationship with Deranged has been easy and Gord has always been really supportive of what we want to do.

No Problem has had a couple of European tours. What were some of the best places to in Europe? Favorite shows?

Germany has always been great, but on the last trip the shows in Italy were the most insane. People went nuts and the after parties were so fun. We toured with Voight Kampff from St. Louis and they have got to be some of the best people to ever tour with. So many characters making great music and they were so fun to rage with and in Italy we definitely tore the dancefloor a new hum-dinger.

What are some things you like about all the digital avenues presented to musicians nowadays (Bandcamp, blogs, blog writers, Facebook, smaller record labels, internet magazines, etc.) to help bands today? And some things you don’t like?

To be perfectly honest, don’t care.

Where can people hear No Problem?

I believe there are bandcamps out there so you can listen to the tunes. iTunes is another way. You should pick up the physical records, order direct from Deranged Records or snag them at your local shop and if they don’t have ’em demand they get ’em or you’ll riot. But if massive group violence isn’t your thing than just come to the gigs and buy records off us, the best and the cheapest.

What’s next for the band?

We will be releasing a tour 7” with three brand new songs. The EP is called Kid Killer and I think this is some of our most bleak stuff yet, so pick it up and slam to it.
In June, we are going to be playing K-Town Fest in Copenhagen, Denmark and touring all the usual stomping spots so keep your eyes peeled for dates.
Thanks so much for the interview and I hope to see some wild fuckers at the gigs.

Cheers.

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The Mandates

     The Mandates are a pressure packed Rock n’ Roll powerhouse blasting out of the streets of Calgary. Some of the other press the band has received describes their sound as very “New York” and I couldn’t agree more. The songs drip with Ramones heart and glow with Dead Boys power. The best testament to this lies in the band’s debut full length, which they released in March of 2013. The album will make you want to fight that fancy dressed jerk that keeps hittin’ on your best lady friend. Then steal that same douche bag’s car and drive it really fast right through the front doors of that convenience store that humiliated and kicked you out earlier for trying to buy cigarettes and beer with your fake I.D. Every impulse a great Rock n’ Roll record should bring out of you. 

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourself and how do you contribute to the Mandates Rock n’ Roll machine?
My name is Brady A.K.A. Kirch N. Destroy, I provide guitar and vocals in the Mandates, in addition to being one of the primary songwriters.

The band is based in Calgary, are you all from that area originally?
I’ve been living in Calgary for over 15 years, our bass player Jimmy grew up in Ontario, but I think we all consider ourselves true Calgarians. Jimmy and I both have been a part of the music scene here for over a decade and each of us have some pretty strong feelings about what it means to be musicians in this city/province.

How did you all meet and start playing music together?
About four and a half years ago, I quit my main rock outfit and had wanted to start a new punk/power-pop band with a former band-mate and best friend, Sarah. She just happened to be dating a really awesome and motivated punk rock guitarist named Matt Sikkins, and after acquiring the very young and very talented Warren “Tahoe” on drums, being a friend of my newfound accomplice, Matt, we went through a few line-up shuffles before finally asking one of our hometown heroes, Jimmy James to play bass. Sarah had already moved across the country and Jimmy was the perfect man to round out our sound. Matt and I were on such a similar plane musically back then that at one point we nearly wrote the exact same song for each other to learn, coincidentally.

The press I read about you guys all describes you as having a very New York sound. Did you have this particular sound or a different concept in mind when starting out The Mandates?
When we first started out I think my playing was influenced by a lot of 70’s bands, though not exclusively from New York. Of course we were in love with The New York Dolls and The Ramones and Television and Blondie and all things CBGB so I think if our sound is “New York” it was because of our profound appreciation for that scene. That said I think we took as much influence by the U.K. and L.A. bands of that time, and even more so by contemporary Portland acts like The Exploding Hearts and The Nice Boys and The Clorox Girls. I think it was listening to those Portland bands and their incredible songwriting that got me really fired up in the beginning.

As influences, you listed overpriced pizza. Please explain.
In Calgary, it seems like everyone leaves the inner city after about 6 or 7 pm to go back to the suburbs where they live. I think it’s for this reason that most districts shut down early and late night eating is awfully hard to come by. Lack of competition in the after-hours pizza market has led Calgarians to be forced into paying over double what you’d pay in cities like Vancouver or Montreal for a late night slice, not to mention it’s usually cold and crusty and you might as well eat some garbage. Frustration and discontent with the very underpins of urban life is the basis for any great Rock n’ Roll band.

And speaking of delicious eats, Discorder actually compared The Mandates and your music to a pizza. Do you feel this is an accurate description of your music as a food dish or do you fancy yourselves as some other tasty edible treat?
I really enjoyed reading that piece. I think that’s a fairly accurate comparison, especially considering the sheer number of pizzas consumed during the year and a half that I lived with Matt. We had a stack of pizza boxes in our kitchen that was taller than me. We called it “Pizza Mountain” and it got too big so I had to move it outside.

What other than music and pizza influences your songwriting? Books, movies or anything like that ever inspire a Mandates song?

Most of our songs come from life experience I think, or more likely just daydreams. There’s one called “I Stayed at the Arcade” about a girl who is really good at playing Centipede, I think that’s the closest thing to pop culture inspiring one of my songs so far. There’s also a song called “She Gets Her Kicks from Terry Six (Not Me)” about trying to play like Terry Six from The Exploding Hearts/Nice Boys in order to win over a babe. I guess we also have a song called “Daggers’ Girl” that’s a reference to the 1986 skateboard flick “Thrashin’”.

You recently released your Self Titled debut LP earlier this year. Where was it recorded and are you happy with the finished results?
We recorded it with our friend Ryan Sadler who also did our previous 7”. He had a pretty cool studio in his basement and we learned a lot from the recording process this time around. We decided we weren’t completely happy with the mixes we had come up with so I got a hold of Pat Kearns in Portland who has done records with Exploding Hearts and Nice Boys and Clorox Girls and many more amazing bands, and he mixed and mastered it for us at his studio, Permapress. I had done a record with him in 2008 and I was really happy that he remembered me well, and was interested in doing a mix for us. We were really pleased with how quickly and efficiently he nailed the final sound we wanted.

If you guys could tour with any band/musician from times gone by, who would it be and why?
I would probably have to go with Blondie, so I could meet and then marry Debbie Harry.

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” because I don’t think anyone should be made to feel ashamed of anything they like. However with that being said, what do you listen to that you think a lot of fans may be surprised by?
That answer is probably career suicide, but I think people might be surprised how broad our appreciation of genres extends. Jimmy listens to Top 40 all the time and a really awful new song will come on the radio somewhere and he knows every word and it blows my mind. Matt likes some Reggae and Ska and I like traditional folk and maritime music. We all like Taylor Swift.

What music have you unleashed on the world and where can people go to hear it or buy it?
As The Mandates, we have a 7” vinyl called “Take You to the Dance” from a few years ago, in addition to our self-titled debut LP that was released earlier this year. Find everything available free for streaming at http://mandates.bandcamp.com and buy it from that website to support the cause.

What does the band have in store for us in the near, or not so near, future?
We just recently finished recording what will be at least two new 7” records (out in Spring, 2014) and we’re recording a new LP with Pat Kearns in March 2014, hopefully on shelves by the fall. We’re off to the Fall Down/Get Down festival in Vancouver next month and we hope to do some international touring in the Spring as well!

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